Chapter One: Perplexity

  Before long, the Spring Festival is approaching! The old mansion of the Gao family is also a joyful scene. This is also the first Spring Festival that Gao Hua Yuan has spent in this era after his rebirth. Before long, he has been here for almost a year. Looking back on this half-year period, from time to time, he still feels a sense of unreality.

  Now he is like heaven and earth compared to when he first woke up after rebirth. In the spring, he was still a foolish young master of the Gao family who everyone looked down on. Not to mention his lack of skills, whoever caught him would bully him, just like a beggar. Even Liu'er had to suffer with him.

  Now, he has become the master of the Gao family's old mansion, and with just one word, a group of servants below him listen to his words as if they were sacred decrees.

  This was not all, after Gao Huaiyuan arrived in Daye County, within a short period of several months, he became a small rich man, and the savings in his hands increased from dozens of yuan to hundreds of yuan, temporarily no longer worrying about being unable to support himself.

  In the mansion in the mountains, after his glass workshop started operating and he had a relatively abundant fund, Gao Huaiyuan immediately sent Xue Yan out to collect more than 30 orphans around the age of 12-13 from the surrounding areas and brought them back to the mountain villa. He also arranged for some honest and reliable servants to take care of their daily lives.

  The craftsmen of Liuli Fang, after a period of exploration, finally produced some finished products. Although the quality was average, these people, after being motivated, put all their energy into this matter and made rapid progress. Some of the finished products they brought out were even more beautiful than Gao Huaiyuan's large-bellied inkstone, with a contemporary charm that was unlike Gao Huaiyuan's ultra-modern works. As a result, after being sent to Jibao Zhai, they immediately became very popular, and the price offered was even higher than that of Gao Huaiyuan's large-bellied inkstone. The profit was so high that it made Gao Huaiyuan dizzy just thinking about it.

  Ju Baozhai indeed kept his promise and returned a copy of the contract signed by their master to Gao Huaiyuan, reiterating that as long as Gao Huaiyuan could guarantee supply, they would definitely ensure that he got a higher price. The large belly inkstone never appeared in Daye County, but was said to have been sent directly to the headquarters of Lin'an Prefecture, where it was sold to a wealthy merchant for a handsome profit. Later, Ma Zhanggui sent Gao Huaiyuan more than 30 guan as compensation, ensuring that he received 60% of the goods payment. Calculating this way, the large belly inkstone was actually sold at an astronomical price of over 100 guan! It really proved the saying: "A rare object is precious!"

  The people of Luli Fang also got their brains working and, in addition to blowing glassware, they came up with the lost-wax casting method and produced a few glass wine jugs. As soon as they hit the market, they were sought after, just like Li Bai's poem said: "Grape wine, night light cup". Drinking wine from this glass jug is a super romantic thing to do in this era. After two months of improvement, Luli Fang's craftsmanship also became more stable, and the success rate of their glass products increased significantly. Although the quality was still affected by the uncontrollable elemental content, which made the glass have colors, the transparency was greatly improved, making it look much better than the first batch of ink bottle glass!

  Under the host of Gao Huaiyuan, they also used Pingra craftsmanship to trial-produce ordinary colored flat glass. The first batch was installed in Gao Huaiyuan's study, which greatly improved the lighting inside the study. Those servants were amazed and fortunately, this was in the backyard, otherwise, if someone saw it, it might have attracted thieves.

  Having money makes things easier, and Gao Huaiyuan is not a miser. After going through some experiences, he has come to understand more about the human relationships in this era. He knows that if he wants to do something stable here, relying solely on his father's reputation will not work. So as the Chinese New Year approaches, Gao Huaiyuan generously takes out a large sum of money and gives it to the county magistrate and other officials, preparing some gifts for them. Li Tong is instructed to deliver these gifts in a big car, making everyone delighted and look at Gao Huaiyuan with newfound respect. They all say that Gao Jian's third young master knows how to get things done, which will make it easier for him to do business in Daye in the future.

  Apart from giving gifts to the officials, Gao Huaiyuan also gave each of the lower-ranking staff in the government office a substantial red envelope, sending them off with beaming smiles. Whenever they saw Gao Huaiyuan, their faces lit up and they couldn't help but show respect.

  Although Gao Huaiyuan reduced the rent for the tenant farmers this year, they still lived a tight life. Therefore, Gao Huaiyuan couldn't bear to see them suffer and instructed Xue Yan to buy several more pigs, which were slaughtered outside and then distributed to each household, allowing every family to have some meat during the New Year celebrations. The tenant farmers naturally praised him again, spreading the word about Gao Huaiyuan's kindness, quickly making his reputation as a benevolent young master spread throughout the area, earning him a reputation for being kind and righteous.

  The first batch of over ten young boys, after several months of training and nurturing, have grown up a lot. Their daily exercises have also made them more robust. Under the guidance of Gao Huaiyuan on Huang Yan and Zhou Huan, they not only got used to the strict management but also learned some basic knowledge of characters. Gao Huaiyuan even took time to personally teach them some boxing skills and Arabic numerals, making these young boys feel more grateful to him and gradually regard this place as their real home.

  After dealing with the Luliu Fang matter, Gao Weiyan didn't rush to develop further. With scarcity comes value, and although production was low, profits were astonishingly high, making for a considerable income. He also made time to shift his focus to the mountain villa, where he re-refined various systems, almost forming a militarized management style. Not only did he strictly demand they learn, but also in their daily lives, he demanded strict discipline from them. The purpose was simple: to let these young men form good habits of obedience.

  In his view, the reason why the Song army was so poor in combat effectiveness was not due to equipment quality, but rather because the Song army relied on its strong economic power and had always been far superior to other countries in terms of equipment quality, except for war horses. The most fundamental reason lay in discipline, as they had never formed the habit of strictly enforcing military discipline. To have a useful force, this force must have an absolute sense of obedience; only with iron discipline can a military ensure that it will be invincible on the battlefield. Therefore, he did not intentionally teach the young men too much martial arts, but rather started from the basics to train their physical and mental strength, as well as their absolute obedience.

  So when more than 30 new orphans were taken in, the first batch of orphans led by Zhou Jun had already formed good habits. The new orphans were directly assigned to them, with each person taking care of three new ones, so that the newly arrived young people could quickly adapt to life and management here.

  When Gao Huaiyuan heard Xue Yan's report that the newly adopted orphans had arrived at the mountain villa, he immediately set off with Liu'er, who had not gone out for a long time. Along the way, they kept hearing Liu'er's laughter. After being suppressed for so many years, Liu'er finally regained her lively nature. Although she was still very respectful to Gao Huaiyuan, she was no longer as cautious and reserved as before.

  For Liu Er's transformation, Gao Huaiyuan was genuinely delighted. Looking at Liu Er's gradually plump body, she had also grown taller over the past six months. Her originally weak and thin body had begun to show curves, and her originally dry and yellow hair had become dark and shiny, setting off her rosy and pretty face. She unexpectedly had a bit of a charming and alluring feeling, which hadn't been noticeable before. Today, taking a closer look, Liu Er was actually a beautiful young woman. Every gesture she made exuded a natural girlish beauty, and when she walked near Gao Huaiyuan, she brought with her a refreshing and pleasant virgin fragrance.

  Gao Huaiyuan's heart skipped a few beats, and he couldn't help but sneakily slap himself, muttering: "Damn it, you're only fourteen years old now, and you actually dare to have evil thoughts, is your hormone secretion excessive again?!" Then he secretly broke out in a cold sweat.

  Liu'er blinked her eyes, just in time to see Gao Huaiyuan secretly slap himself on the back of his hand, muttering something under his breath. His gaze seemed to hold some inexplicable emotion. As she looked at Gao Huaiyuan's robust physique, Liu'er suddenly felt a strange sensation rising up inside her. She had seen Gao Huaiyuan's entire body before when attending to him, but now that she thought about it, she felt a flush of shyness. The atmosphere between the two of them suddenly became somewhat ambiguous.

  "If only I could stay by Master's side for the rest of my life, how wonderful that would be! But is this possible? Master is now so powerful and will eventually marry a young lady from a wealthy family. How long can I, a humble maid, follow him? If Master gets married and has other women, brings in a new concubine, will he still keep me by his side?..." Yuer sat on the donkey cart, gazing at Gao Huai's broad back as he walked beside the cart. Suddenly, these thoughts flashed through her mind, and she couldn't help but feel downcast. The more she thought about it, the more her heart felt jumbled, and the smile on her face gradually disappeared.

  After blaming himself for a while, Gao suddenly found that Liu'er didn't say much either. He glanced at her sideways and saw that she had suddenly revealed a hint of sadness on her face. He couldn't help but ask: "Why did Liu'er suddenly become unhappy?"

  Liu'er was taken aback for a moment, then quickly shook her head and said: "No... no! I was thinking that Master would keep Liu'er by his side forever, as your maid?"

  Gao Huai's mind flashed back to some fragmented memories, Liu Er, when he was being bullied, used her frail body to desperately defend herself; mending clothes for herself, combing her hair for herself, feeding herself, and accompanying him by his side when he was injured, carefully taking care of him...

  "No matter what happens in this life of mine, as long as I still have a breath left in me, I will never drive you away! This is my promise!"